Frequently asked questions
Here are answers to all the questions that you wanted to ask, but didn't want to spend time enquiring about:
- What does on-premise mean?
- On premise means software licence that you buy and install on your own servers
- What does on-demand mean?
- On demand is referred to the software that you do not buy license for - but subscribe as a service. Consider it like pay as you go for model for software. It is also referred as cloud computing.
- When should I purchase on-premise software?
- On-premise is ideal for companies who have their own IT team and dedicated infrastructure for IT applications
- We have multiple companies in our group - do I require multiple licenses of PowerApps?
- No - you can run PowerApps on a single instance for multiple companies. These can be setup for centralised or de-centralised management
- We have multiple companies in our group, each with it's own set of rules - do I need separate installations of PowerApps?
- You can manage any number of companies and divisions within your group on the same setup
- Is PowerApps web based?
- PowerApps has been built on web technology and works using the standard IE web browser. You can use it within your Intratnet or over Internet / VPN as you like.
- What program needs to be installed on my PC?
- Absolutely none, except for the Internet Explorer browser (IE ver 6.0 or above). You need to have javascript enabled.
- Which database is required to run PowerApps?
- We provide versions for Oracle 11g onwards and SQL Server 2005 onwards for on-premise installations. On-demand users do not have to worry about the database.
- How many people can use PowerApps at a time?
- There is no limit to how many users can use the system. We support upto 2000 concurrent users on a single application server. This can well support upto 20,000 employees on a single server and more than 50,000 using load balancing servers
- What kind of server infrastructure do I need to run PowerApps?
- On-demand customers do not require any server hardware. For on-premise installations you need a Windows 2003 or above application server and a database server running Oracle 11g or SQL 2005. For moderate loads you can deploy the Windows application server and database server on the same hardware
- How secure is my data with you?
- Your data is protected at the network level as well as physically. The data resides behind a firewall. The database is accessible only to Fluous for system maintenance activities. Secure backups are kept on different media and offsite backups are kept at regular intervals. Your data is housed in a Tier II data center with SAS 70 certification
- Do we pay any annual maintenance fee?
- On-demand customers do not pay any annual charges as they are using a monthy pay-per-use service. AMC charges are applicable for on-premise software licences purchased.
- How is PowerApps different from the desktop payroll application I am currently using?
- PowerApps is a web-enabled application. Unlike your desktop application it works on the web browser and is as accessible over the local Intranet / VPN / WAN as over Internet. Of course, you only need to publish the application server through your Internet firewall to allow employees to access it from anywhere in the world. Unlike normal HRMS applications PowerApps is fully inclusive and is not restricted to HR users alone. The extensive employee self service and manager self service options make common day to day tasks a breeze.
- Our Payroll is outsourced - Is PowerApps still useful?
- Absolutely - PowerApps provides all the information you would need to provide to your Payroll agency. Right from salary master details, unpaid leave details, increments, etc - everything is available as a simple output for your payroll service provider. What's more, you can even directly import the payslips into PowerApps to provide employees self-service access to online payslips even without running payroll within PowerApps
- We have a legacy payroll software, which we can not replace at this moment - can we still use PowerApps?
- Yes, you can. PowerApps modules can be used independent of each other and you would continue to use the HRIS, Leave and Self service modules. PowerApps would continue to provide excel outputs of all the information you need for your legacy payroll system
- We are using the HRMS module of another ERP system since many years - can PowerApps work with with this system?
- PowerApps provides the ability to tightly integrate with the HRMS and employee data from ERP systems such as SAP, Oracle Apps, MS Dynamics and Navision. We understand the underlying architecture of these ERP system and can integrate your employee database and assignments without the additional burden of manually updating this information in PowerApps
- What is software-as-a-service?
- Software-as-a-service or SaaS is a subscription based software usage offering which provides you popular software applications for a usage fees instead of having to buy and install licenses. You can scale up your usage of the system based on number of modules, features, and number of end users as you go along. You only pay for what you use and have the flexibility of upscaling / downscaling at any time. Usually SaaS software subscriptions are provided on a monthly fee. This is very much akin to utility services like electricity and telecom where you don't need to own any of the infrastructure, you just flick on the switch and start using it, and you pay for only what you use.
- How is SaaS different from Outsourcing?
- The SaaS subsciptions are provided to end-user organisations directly. As an end user organisation you would use and work with the HRMS system as if you were using it over your own LAN. Compared to this, outsourcing is the other extreme where all the software operations and system processing, data updation etc is taken care of by an external agency who would do it on their own inhouse software systems.
- Do you provide outsourced HR/Payroll services?
- Fluous has tied up with reputed and experienced service providers who provide HR outsourcing services on the PowerApps platform. Contact us for further details.
- What happens if we decide to discontinue your services?
- A subscription service can be stopped at any time with one month notice. You would be provided all your data in excel format which would be downloadable over the Internet by you only. Once the services are formally discontinued, we permanently delete all the data from our servers and within 3 months from all backup tapes.
- How many years data do you maintain in your system?
- All subscription based customers have 3 years of data maintained online. Excel outputs are provided annually for data for the financial year which you can archive and keep.
- How do you provide training?
- Training for Saas customers is delivered through web based conference. We conduct the remote hands training with audio conference and web meeting to provide you an experience that's as effective as a face to face training. Training is provided on the complete system implementation at your convenience.
- Do you have any office or partner in my city to provide on-site service, such as training?
- Yes, our service partners are available to provide you on-site training at all major cities including Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kolkata. They can even provide training at any other place in India. If you are interested to be a Fluous training partner, please contact us.
- What all services are provided by your partners?
- Our partners provide implementation, customisation and training services at your doorstep and also online.